Members of KU's Nepalese Student Association, from left, Jagaran Acharya, Chet Bhatta and Madan Neupane, set up Monday, April 27, 2015, at the Kansas Union to collect donations for relief efforts in Nepal following a devastating earthquake over the weekend. For more about the fundraiser: http://ljw.bz/1DQebIm

Members of the Kansas University Nepalese Student Association are collecting money to help with Nepal earthquake relief.

Club members are accepting donations today at a table on Level 4 of the Kansas Union, where they plan to be until 7 p.m.

Donations also can be delivered or mailed to the KU Nepalese Student Association account at Commerce Bank, Kansas University Banking Center, 1301 Jayhawk Blvd., Room 444, Lawrence KS 66045.

The club will give the money it raises to the American Red Cross, said member Krishna Ghimire, a graduate student in civil engineering.

“They are in desperate need for medical supplies and food,” Ghimire said. He added help also will be needed for search and recovery efforts.

Ghimire said he reached his parents and wife, who live in Katmandu, about 12 hours after Saturday’s 7.8 magnitude quake there.

They are safe, he said, but like many in the country right now have been staying outdoors in tents while aftershocks continue to threaten buildings.

“They are scared of going inside,” he said.

There are more than 20 current students in KU’s Nepalese Student Association, members stationed at the Union on Monday said. They said they believed all members have now reached their families back home.

Club members also have been in communication with Lawrence restaurateur Subarna Bhattachan, a native of Nepal. Bhattachan told the Journal-World Sunday that he, too, had confirmed relatives were safe and that he is considering fundraising events at the restaurants he co-owns, La Parrilla, Zen Zero and Genovese.